Anti-Virus Software
Stratagem recommends the purchase of Norton Antivirus for the best protection.  But if you can not afford to purchase Antivirus software, AVG is the best option.  Free products provide varying degrees of protection, however, for full protection you must buy the software; the free version is not intended for commercial use.
Anti-Spyware Software
Stratagem recommends the purchase of Lavasoft Ad-Aware Professional for the best protection.  But if you can not afford to purchase Antispyware software, Lavasoft offers a free version.  Free products provide varying degrees of protection, however, for full protection you must buy the software; the free version is not intended for commercial use.
Office Productivity Software
OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.
FTP Client Software
Classic FTP is an easy to use FTP client that allows you to view, edit, upload, download and delete files from a remote server (website) or network.
Photo Management Software
Picasa Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great.
 Music Management Software
iTunes 9: Free for Mac + PC. iTunes is a free application for your Mac or PC. It organizes and plays your digital music and video on your computer. It syncs all your media with your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV.

Watch the CNET video review of
Ad-Aware Free:
Click Here TO See Video

From Lavasoft :

With behavior-based threat detection and integrated real-time monitoring, Ad-Aware focuses on core consumer security needs. Instead of adding layers of bells and whistles--thereby slowing your computer and scans down--we have decided to focus on what really matters. Ad-Aware provides advanced threat protection, and is significantly lighter and faster than our previous versions.

What's new in this version:

Version 8.1.0 includes new anti-malware technology with new Genotype detection and behavior-based heuristics, new usability features that allow you to tailor the program to fit your needs, and the community collaboration that will allow you to customize Ad-Aware to your needs.

View screenshots